Enterprise-grade curriculum management, now within reach
I build solutions for colleges and universities using the Microsoft Power Platform. Purpose-built for curriculum management, program approvals, and academic workflows.
Three common problems, three purpose-built solutions
These problems often show up at post-secondary institutions without dedicated curriculum management software. Using the Microsoft Power Platform, I build solutions for problems like these, whether that’s a database, an approval workflow, or a report generator.
Problem #1
Curriculum data is scattered across spreadsheets and shared drives
Solution #1
Curriculum data, all in one place.
A curriculum database on Microsoft Dataverse puts course and program data in one structured system, instead of scattered across spreadsheets, personal OneDrive folders, and SharePoint sites.
Problem #2
There isn’t a single record of who approved what, when, or whether the decision ever reached your curriculum data
Solution #2
A record of every decision.
A course and program approval workflow, built inside Microsoft Teams, keeps a clear record of who approved what and when, with a decision summary you can enter directly into your curriculum data source.
Problem #3
Review and accreditation reports are compiled by hand every cycle
Solution #3
Reports that build themselves.
A program review and accreditation report generator, built using Power Automate, pulls directly from your version-controlled data to generate reports on demand, instead of being compiled by hand every cycle.
Matthew Busilla
Founder and Solution Architect
LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)I’ve spent the last 13 years at a public college in Winnipeg, working through instruction, program management, business analysis, and systems coordination. Most recently, I led the modernization of academic systems on the Microsoft Power Platform, including the end-to-end development and implementation of a curriculum database using Dataverse. It cut the annual program review cycle for more than 30 programs to under a month.
Generative AI is now a major focus, both learning and applying it to solution development. I use agentic coding tools like Claude Code in my own Power Platform work, and I closely follow how AI is being applied across higher education.
Outside of work, I enjoy going to parks with my wife and daughter, and reading.
- $40Ksaved annually in software licensing at the college, after a curriculum database rollout I led replaced legacy Excel and Word processes
- 30+programs brought onto that same database, cutting the annual review cycle to under a month
- 10Microsoft certifications, including the PL-200 Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate
FAQ
You also work full time. How does that fit with consulting?
I work at the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (MITT) as a systems coordinator and have been running this business alongside that role since April 2026. I disclosed the business under MITT’s conflict of interest policy and check prospective work against it before taking on any new client engagements.
Are you available for new work?
Yes. I have capacity now for projects that fit alongside my current role, and that capacity will grow over the next year. MITT is currently winding down operations, and all academic programs will be completed in 2027. Let me know your timeline and I’ll be direct about what I can commit to.
Who will actually be doing the work?
I’m a solo consultant, so the person you scope the project with is the person who builds it. That suits small, high-value projects well, and it’s how I delivered the curriculum solutions at MITT. For larger or more complex engagements, a professional services firm may be the better fit, and I’ll say so if I think that’s the case.
Do you work with Power BI?
Yes, although Power BI is not my main focus. I primarily work with Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dataverse, which naturally involves a lot of data modelling. Because Dataverse is a relational database, it often feeds into Power BI, so I build with downstream reporting in mind rather than considering it after the fact.
Do you build solutions that work with student data?
Yes. That said, the requirements involved when working with personal information change the scope of an engagement. Provincial privacy legislation, such as FIPPA, shapes not only a solution’s security model, but also plans for the ongoing maintenance of that model. That maintenance needs a clear owner, and most institutional IT departments already carry a full portfolio, so it often stays with whoever built it.
While I can support small, well-scoped student data solutions, larger or more complex engagements need a level of ongoing stewardship I’m not positioned to provide. A full student information system (SIS), or even a typical module from one, is a clear example of that scale. For those use cases, my honest recommendation is to look at what your existing SIS can already do, or to consider a purpose-built product, before building something custom.
Do you offer other higher education services?
Yes. While I specialize in Power Platform solutions, I’ve also worked in academic policy development, outcome mapping, curriculum quality assurance, and curriculum development.
See what this could look like at your institution
If you work at a college or university, I’m always happy to have a free conversation about your current processes and where the Power Platform could help, even if you’re just exploring the possibilities.